


Making amends

by gidge



Category: The Young and the Restless
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 18:24:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13254051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gidge/pseuds/gidge
Summary: The skirmish suddenly halted by Tessa's stern tone, Mariah freezes, looking directly at the girl who just an hour earlier had accused her of being a petty backstabber.“What?” Mariah answers with just as much force. “What do you want?”





	Making amends

**Author's Note:**

> So...my friend who thinks I write things good (joke) said I should keep doing this POS even though it took over a week and is kind of pathetic. But hey, it's something. 
> 
> There's not a lot of Teriah fic out there, so I'm just trying to fill the gap. Think you can do better? Huh? Please, make my day! No seriously, write Teriah fic. It would seriously make my day. There are literally two dozen in the entire internet. I know, I've looked. Help a shipper out.

Tessa knew she'd messed up. One minute, she trusted Mariah with the world, and the next she was spitting venom in her friend's face, convinced the redhead had betrayed her to Hillary.

_ But of course that's the stupidest thing you could assume,  _ Tessa thought to herself.  _ Mariah not only hates Hillary, she …  _ cares  _ about you. _

She had let Mariah leave, if only because she didn't know what to say to fix it. Tessa had no excuses, no logical reason to convince Mariah she hadn't thought the worst of her just a few minutes earlier.

Walking with her head down, Tessa reaches her new (used) car in the dingy underground garage before realizing she'd left her keys in the studio. Scoffing, and internally chastising herself, the brunette turns around, retracing the path she took.

Once off the elevator, Tessa remembers she had set her keys on Mariah's desk. Heading forward like a bull ready to charge, she walks purposefully toward the cube before realizing nearly everyone has left for the day.

Everyone but a certain redhead, who was slumped at her desk, staring at the exact set of keys Tessa was looking to retrieve.

“Hey,” Tessa softly utters, stopping a few feet from her friend's defeated form.

Mariah jerks, turning her head to the right before quickly looking back to her desktop. However, the move wasn't fast enough to keep Tessa from seeing puffy, red eyes that should have been a lovely shade of hazel. Instead, they were breathtaking in their betrayal of heartbreak.

The redhead, with her back still turned, attempts to subtly touch her right hand to her face as Tessa watches the back of her head.

“Hey,” Mariah says, her voice soft as it crackles, breaking the word into two syllables. Clearly, she had been crying.

The brunette hesitated, just for a moment, before walking two more steps toward Mariah.

“Hey,” she says in a quiet, consoling voice. “I think you've got a key ring there with my name on it.”

Tessa smirks a little, still staring at silky locks.

“Literally. See? It says ‘TESSA’ right there on that unicorn bottle-opener.”

She moves, pointing and bouncing forward on her toes slightly, as if Mariah can see her.

“Yeah, here you go.” Mariah extends her hand behind her, never turning to face Tessa. 

“All right, that's it.”

Tessa grabs an armrest in each hand, swivels the office chair around and finds herself face-to-face with Mariah wearing a shocked expression.

Surprise quickly turns to annoyance as Mariah's brow furrows. Tessa holds steady as Mariah attempts to pry the musician away by pulling upward on her forearms.

“Listen,” Tessa says solemnly, struggling against her best friend. “No, listen, listen! Mariah!”

The skirmish suddenly halted by Tessa's stern tone, Mariah freezes, looking directly at the girl who just an hour earlier had accused her of being a petty backstabber.

“What?” Mariah answers with just as much force. “What do you want?”

“I want us to fix this,” Tessa says, nearly yelling as she lifts her left hand to gesture between her chest and her temporary prisoner.

Mariah's body language changes. Instead of a still, bold posture, she slumps slightly. She makes a noise of discontent in her throat, staring at Tessa before looking down and to her right.

“What's to fix? You thought I betrayed you, found out the truth and apologized. We're good. All fine here in the land of sunshine and rainbows.”

Tessa scoffs, throwing herself back to a standing position, clapping her hands to each side of her face as strips of ebony hair flip through the air.

“ _ Why  _ do you do this?!”

The musician makes a strangling gesture in the air, shaking her hands as she stares at Mariah.

“Do what?” Mariah asks, narrowing her eyes in what was likely the pretense of confusion.

“Every time I want to talk about what's going on, you push me away,” Tessa says, turning to place her hands on the desk to her right, taking deep breaths.

“I push  _ you _ away?”

“Yes, yes you do.”

“No. I came to you and I--no, you know what? This is pointless.”

Mariah grabs her bag, rising out of her desk chair, but Tessa moves quickly, standing inches from Mariah to block her path.

“Yeah, you did.” Tessa says softly, holding her arms rigidly to her sides, swaying a centimeter forward as she stares into Mariah's heated gaze.

“But Mariah, after San Fran, after I moved out, I tried to bridge the gap and you  _ almost literally  _ pushed me out of this very office. Like I said, your terms.”

“Bridge the gap?” Mariah makes a noise in the back of her throat which sounds like a mixture of disbelief and irritation.

“I just,” Mariah looks to the floor, dropping her hands to her waist with the weight of her bag. “I can't talk about this right now, Tessa. Maybe not ever. What's the point? Nothing's changed. And nothing is going to change.”

Tessa looks down. Mariah stands before her, shifting from one foot to the other. She grimaces at Tessa's form, leaning slightly toward the exit.

Looking back into Mariah's eyes through a half-lidded gaze, Tessa's eyes threaten to spill tears. Mariah's body goes rigid, and she steps back, exhaling deeply. She plops into a chair.

“So that's it, then?” Tessa asks, shaking slightly with clenched fists at her sides. “You don't want to talk anymore so I can't have my say?”

“Tessa…” Mariah tosses her bag on to the table.

“No. You make all these proclamations, avoid me, make me feel like hell and I don't get to have a turn?”

“Right, because you didn't already say plenty when I spilled my guts to you like a complete ass!”

“I was trying to explain myself after you sort of sprang this whole thing on me...” Tessa falters, waving a bit emphatically as she looks Mariah in the eye. “I feel like every time we talk we're spinning in a circle but just missing the connecting point.”

“Tessa, let's just drop it, okay? Obviously,” Mariah pauses for a moment. “We're on different wavelengths as far as this-- friendship--goes. I'll talk to you later.”

Mariah moves to leave, but Tessa gently grabs hold of her forearm.

“I just want to understand,” Tessa says, eyes pleading. “Why won't you meet me halfway?”

Mariah wrenches her arm away, anger clear in her face as she slams her coat on the table.

“Because halfway doesn't work, Tessa! I can't go back to pretending,” Mariah moves to the right, stepping away from the brunette who'd drawn closer despite the outburst.

“I know, I know, it's not a lie to you. But it's a lie to me! I feel like I finally figured out something about myself, about who I'm  _ in love with _ and I can't go back! I can't just put it in some vault,” Mariah was pacing. Running a hand through her hair, she looks up at the person she'd probably die for if asked.

“And I literally  _ cannot  _ just  _ pretend,” _ a beat passes as Mariah takes a breath, standing still. “My heart doesn't break every time I see you.” A tear slips down her cheek and before she can wipe it away, Tessa's hand is there, softly caressing Mariah's face.

The redhead looks Tessa directly in the eye for the first time after delivering her rant. In them, dark and soulful colors are clouded by a layer of tears waiting to fall.

Tessa's face is close to hers. Only a few inches separate them.

“I didn't know…” Tessa's voice passes her lips, a whisper barely audible even to Mariah. “You love me? Like, love me, love me?”

Tessa smiles slightly, sadly, while Mariah can do nothing but stare into those eyes, opening her mouth to speak but making no sound.

A hand slowly snakes its way around Mariah's neck, tangling slightly in auburn waves before prompting forward movement. Tessa's gaze never wavers as she ever so slightly licks her lips, pulling Mariah closer. Their mouths connect and a small hum escapes Mariah's throat. As the kiss deepens, Tessa's unoccupied hand grabs Mariah's waist, pulling her closer as their bodies meld together.

Breaking slightly for breath, Mariah softly chuckles.

“What?” Tessa says, a smile on her face as Mariah glides her hands along her abdomen, pulling the brunette impossibly closer.

“I can't believe it took brainless yelling to make you understand. Of course, dummy. Of course.”

“‘Of course’ what?”

“Of course. I am in extreme like with you.”

“Excuse me. 'Like’?” Tessa never releases Mariah's waist but leans the top half of her body backward, a look of disbelief unable to hide the smile on her face. She pushes the redhead on to a nearby chaise as laughter fills the room.

Tessa hovers above her as Mariah lies her head on the sofa arm.

“Well, Mariah Copeland,” Tessa says, smiling. “I think I could be in extreme like with you too.”

She runs her thumb along Mariah's lips and lowers her head for another kiss.


End file.
